Show all posts by user
Discuss any sort of mechanical stuff here: positioning systems, gears, extruding methods, etc.
Re: Frames...accuracy and/or upgrade??? - 8 years ago
I made my first Dibond mendel90 by buying sheets cut to size and with rounded corners from here: . Beware they often send sheets with scratches and / or slight warping and they substitute generic ACP for Dibond. The only cutting I needed to do myself was the big hole in the gantry. I drilled the holes using the PDF templates, an optical centre-punch and a spot drill. At that time the design wasnby nophead - Mendel90
Re: x carriage fan duct for E3D-V6 - 8 years ago
Looks like you are trying to fit the parts for the sturdy version to a dibond machine. The assembly looks like this:by nophead - Mendel90
Re: Your thoughts about the new PICO hotend - 8 years ago
It's the other way round. Molten PLA is like glue and sticks to everything. PLA past its glass transition is like rubber and has a high coefficient of friction on most materials, hence why PTFE liners are used.by nophead - General
Re: Mk3 Aluminium heatbed - 8 years ago
I have the same problem. The resistance is too high for 12V and the two halves heat differently when wired in parallel.by nophead - Reprappers
Re: Meltzi corruption? - 8 years ago
Looks like you haven't opened the Marlin.ino sketch file. I.e. you are just compiling an empty sketch.by nophead - Mendel90
Re: Frames...accuracy and/or upgrade??? - 8 years ago
Because the dibond version was designed to be cut with a CNC I took advantage of that and made some of the holes slots and rounded the corners. The sturdy MDF design was designed to be made with hand tools so has only round holes and square corners. For cutting Dibond with a router you want a single spiral fluted endmill like these: . I don't know if a Dremel is up the the job. I use an 800W Kreby nophead - Mendel90
Re: Frames...accuracy and/or upgrade??? - 8 years ago
The only place the exact thickness matters is where the spool holders hang over the frame. If you are printing the parts yourself you could generate them slightly bigger or you could file the plastic or chisel the wood a to make them fit. A lot of people use different spool holders anyway. The best material for making a Mendel90 is Dibond aluminium composite but you need a CNC to make that versiby nophead - Mendel90
Re: Bit late to the party, but I'm starting to gather materials... - 8 years ago
1) I think you will need to add a small fan to keep the extruder and carriage cool. 2) No they are not the same. Your picture is a cap screw. A hex screw has a hexagonal head. 3) The hole in the 608 bearing is exactly 8mm so if the rod is bigger it won't fit. I use h6 8mm rods and they have to be hammered in but it wouldn't matter if it a loose fit. 4) No I have built a machine with 10mm rodsby nophead - Mendel90
Re: x carriage fan duct for E3D-V6 - 8 years ago
Yes all the parts are designed to be printable without support material, so no outlines in mid air. In practice the ribbon clamps need support because the bridges are so close to the bed they droop. I removed all the support membranes before sending them out.by nophead - Mendel90
Re: Changing filament E3DV6 - 8 years ago
If it is PLA you could try a cold pull at 70-80C. That is below the melt point but above the glass transition, so it should come out in one piece leaving the barrel completely empty. Having said that I haven't tried it with E3D. I have never noticed the speed being critical.by nophead - Mendel90
Re: x carriage fan duct for E3D-V6 - 8 years ago
What layer height and width are you using? The bridges over the holes are deliberate. That is where it transitions from a hex nut trap to a round hole, so the outline of the hole would be printed in mid air without the support membrane. I drilled them out for the kits. If I was designing it again I would probably use this technique but it is very slicer setting dependent.by nophead - Mendel90
Re: Bit late to the party, but I'm starting to gather materials... - 8 years ago
1. No a J-Head is fine for printing ABS. All the kits were printed with J-heads at 255C for the first layer and 250C for the rest but coloured ABS needs a lower temperature. It is also better for printing PLA than an E3D due to the PTFE liner all the way down and I would expect it to be better for flexible filaments. E3D can handle some high temperature exotic materials and has interchangeable noby nophead - Mendel90
Re: Bit late to the party, but I'm starting to gather materials... - 8 years ago
1. E3D if you want to print plastic that needs a temperature higher than 250C. J-Head if you want to print PLA. A print cooling fan is needed to print PLA and that also cools the J-Head. PLA goes soft at 55C so you need to cool the previous layer below that temperature and keep the top of the hot end below it. E3D needs a separate hot end cooling fan, different Wade's block, fan duct and fan braby nophead - Mendel90
Re: e3dv6 help - 8 years ago
I think you must have the Bowden version instead of the direct version. It should look like this:by nophead - Mendel90
Re: e3dv6 help - 8 years ago
No E3D V6 needs less depth than a J Head Mk5B, not more. The normal solution is to put an M8 washer under it to pack it pack it out. You must have something else.by nophead - Mendel90
Re: Nozzle blocking - 8 years ago
Logically, making it 100/80 times faster would mean it would complete the first layer and then the fan should come on and cool it. A lower nozzle temperature helps. Perhaps more silicone tape on the hot end would help. Failing that a tiny fan that blows on the top of the hot end and is always on could be a solution.by nophead - Mendel90
Re: Help with ramps board on dibond printer. - 8 years ago
Unless you changed the firmware it can only be the motors that are wired backwards as the original firmware is set up correctly and known to work on RAMPs as long as the endstops are wired correctly. Did you ever see it home upwards from a position below the endstop? This line inverts the direction signal, which is the same as swapping the wires This line sets the logical homing direction, whiby nophead - Mendel90
Re: Help with ramps board on dibond printer. - 8 years ago
I don't know to be honest. If Z is at 203 then it should only be able to move down because of the soft limits. The limit switches are only active during homing unless you have changed that. Are you sure the Z motors are going in the right direction? If you step up 0.1mm does it go to 203.1? If the Z motors are wired backwards then it would home in the wrong direction but if it was already homby nophead - Mendel90
Re: Help with ramps board on dibond printer. - 8 years ago
The switches and links should be between ground and signal. Z Min should be low to allow it to move down. What value does M114 have for the Z position when homed.by nophead - Mendel90
Re: Help with ramps board on dibond printer. - 8 years ago
You need to put jumpers on the three unused endstop inputs or they will only move in one direction.by nophead - Mendel90
Re: Can you print with solder? - 8 years ago
Note that molten metals are often solvents for much higher melting point metals. Molten solder will quickly erode a brass nozzle.by nophead - Prusa i3 and variants
Re: Your thoughts about the new PICO hotend - 8 years ago
Have you got a fan cooling it? I am pretty sure you will need one on an all metal hot end.by nophead - General
Re: Lead Screw usage for X and Y axes - 8 years ago
My motors run at ambient plus 20C and I have them in a 45C chamber, so they get to 65C but ABS doesn't soften till about 90C - 100C. I have a machine about 5 years old like that and the motor brackets have gone yellow but not deformed. I have had extruder brackets go brown due to rising heat from the hot end but they still don't deform but tend to crack eventually. I insulate the heater block toby nophead - Mechanics
Re: Lead Screw usage for X and Y axes - 8 years ago
Strange ABS you have there or a very hot motor. My ABS parts go brown and brittle and perhaps crack when they are in a prolonged hot environment (i.e. 65-70C for several years) but they don't soften and distort. @tobben, No you can't do it with a few passives. It is generally done with a DSP nowadays that looks at the chopper waveform to infer the back EMF from the motor and calculate its lagby nophead - Mechanics
Re: Horizontal lines - 8 years ago
It's OK for the top of the threaded rods to wobble due to them being slightly bent but the bottoms must be well centred in the couplings. Otherwise I think as they rotate the spiral thread contacts at different places in the nut and that causes unequal layer height increments, especially near the bottom. When the layer height is too small the layer bulges all the way around and you get a ridge evby nophead - Mendel90
Re: Horizontal lines - 8 years ago
It seems that your Z axis doesn't move equal amounts for each layer. Which version of the Z couplings do you have, the original ones with PVC tubing or the newer ones with neoprene? Are they well centred or do the threaded rods gyrate?by nophead - Mendel90
Re: Horizontal lines - 8 years ago
If the protruding lines go all the way around and are spaced about 1mm apart then it is definitely something wrong with the Z axis. If they are not regularly spaced it could be filament that changes in diameter or perhaps the bed is flexing as it turns on and off. Try switching the bed off half way through the build. The part will probably detach before the end but if you get a smooth patch befoby nophead - Mendel90
Re: Horizontal lines - 8 years ago
Looks like something severely wrong with the Z axis. Are the couplings well centred? Also check that it is actually resting on both nuts. Sometimes the bed levelling procedure can leave it resting on just one and then it stick / slips at that other end giving very uneven layer increments. The model isn't the best for looking for errors because it is a wavy distorted version of a building. I thby nophead - Mendel90
Re: Original dibond files - 8 years ago
The files that match the kits are here: . There shouldn't be any changes to the spool holder dimensions so I don't know why you find the dust filter is too long. The E3D version is a bit longer and the sturdy and mendel versions will be slightly different. The spool dimensions are defined here: so theoretically you can define a new spool size and it will generate one to match. I haven't tried aby nophead - Mendel90
Re: Hotend stopped heating - 8 years ago
The most likely reason would be a bad connection at the IDC connector or the PCB. Does it show the correct temperature? If so use a multimeter to check there is 12V at the heater terminals when told to heat. If there is then measure the heater resistor it should be ~ 5.6 Ohm. If it doesn't show the correct temperature the most likely reason is molten plastic leaking onto the thermistor and shoby nophead - Mendel90